I'm sorry if any of this seems a little preachy or annoying. It's late though, so cut me some slack. 1. You don't have to do a powerpoint. In fact, powerpoint is not the best way to do a forecast presentation. The reason I do powerpoints is so I can put something on the website as a reference. Note how my powerpoint is filled with links. If you use a powerpoint, you should use links to pull up the models instead of just filling the powerpoint with images. I put Bufkit images in the powerpoint because the computers don't have Bufkit on them. Powerpoint it useful for showing your personal forecast and comparison to another forecast. If you make a powerpoint with 2 slides and use a web browser for the rest of the time, that would be alright. 2. Preload your loops. Go into 310 before the discussion and figure out what you are going to say. Don't just wing it. Give yourself a little time to look at everything available. Set up the websites you want to look at and make sure the machine can handle it. One of the reasons I only put links for the NAM is because my computer can't handle the longer loops for the GFS. The computers in 310 should be able to handle multiple loops. 3. Read the presentation I made about giving a forecast discussion. The last thing I want to do on Monday morning is be bored out of my mind because you didn't read that thing. I put more time into making it than you will into reading it. Just follow the advice and you will be fine. 4. This isn't for a grade, but you should still put some effort into it. I realize that it is a little time consuming but I did it ALL last year and the first 3 this year, so I don't really feel bad that you have to do maybe 45 minutes of work for the whole semester in an area that I hope you are interested in. I will also be taking notes and giving you feedback, I won't tell everyone, I will just send you an email with my notes. 5. Don't be affraid to sound nerdy. Say the most scientific thing you can think of. It's impressive when you talk about readiational cooling and vorticity advection. It is also impressive to know the states and Canadian provences. 6. If you need help, ask. Aaron and I are willing to help you out with your presentation. I am not making you guys do this because I'm lazy. In fact, I would like to keep doing it. I have done so many of these, though, that I am really comfortable with it, and it's unfair for me to hog up all of the practice time. So if you need help, come see me and Aaron on Monday morning and we will help you out. We can have a mini discussion before the actual discussion.